


Comfort and Warmth

by yxurstruly



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Avi-centric, Depressive Spiral, Hurt/Comfort, Johann is sad, M/M, Pining, Prompt Fill, Suicide Attempt, but not explicitly. poor guy just lost control
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24344422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yxurstruly/pseuds/yxurstruly
Summary: Avi checks in on Johann.Anonymous asked for "16 for johann and avi 🥺" (16. "Put some clothes on for the love of God.") and I threw us all for a loop.
Relationships: Avi/Johann (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	Comfort and Warmth

Half an hour past midnight Avi was gripped with the need to check in on Johann. He had finished his shift an hour and a half earlier, but he had run into Carey on his way across the quad, and she was on her way to meet NO-3113 and Killian and some others for late-night drinks, and Avi had kind of deserved it after the week he’d had, so of course he’d gotten carried away. But when he checked the time he realized he hadn't seen or heard from Johann since early the previous morning, so off he went to the Voidfish’s chambers. (Lucretia had eyeballed him on the way in; he had flushed and uttered no more than a brief greeting.)

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that befell his eyes. Johann, in nothing but his underwear, floated in the Voidfish’s tank, sullen and still, a moddly and curious experiment of a bath doomed from the start. The Voidfish was culled quietly at the bottom of the tank, clearly uncomfortable; Johann was suspended near the surface, his eyes nearly closed.

“Johann,” Avi called, striding across the room to put a hand on the tank. “Are you alright?”

Johann’s eyes lazed open. A startling range of emotions played across his face but he did not move.

“How long have you been in there?” Avi demanded, panic creeping into his voice, but Johann made no reply, his eyes drooping closed once more.

Avi rushed to the opposite side of the tank where a ladder leaned haphazardly on the glass. Wasting no time worrying about his own clothes (and eyeballing Johann’s in their heap on the floor), he pulled himself up the ladder and leaned down into the tank.

The Voidfish’s water felt foreign on his skin and unlike any water he had ever encountered; it was rich in a way that was almost nauseating and it smelled heady and full. “Thank Istus,” Avi muttered when he was able to get a grasp on Johann without having to get into the water himself. Fumbling, he managed to pull Johann’s limp form up to the surface and sling it over his shoulder. There was a moment as the ladder wobbled beneath him when he saw his life flash before his eyes but he managed to stabilize himself and, after a minute or maybe an hour of struggling, was able to reach the bottom with Johann safely in tow.

For another terrifying instant Avi blanked on all of his fantasy CPR knowledge, but just being out of the Voidfish’s goop and close to Avi’s warmth brought Johann coughing weakly back to consciousness.

“I’ve got you,” Avi said, but Johann protested quietly, trying to squirm free of Avi’s grasp. Avi set him down carefully. Johann sank instantly to the floor. Still he hadn’t said a word. Avi started to get frustrated.

“What the hell is this about?” he commanded, realizing halfway through that he should try to keep aggression out of his voice for Johann’s sake.

“I wanted to talk to it,” Johann mumbled.

It wasn’t that Avi was obsessed or anything, but he’d spent enough time with Johann to know that there was always the slightest glimmer of curious wonder in his eyes when he spoke about the Voidfish. It didn’t take an expert—or maybe it did, maybe Avi was just a Johann expert now—to recognize that tonight that glimmer was missing. Something was amiss.

Avi’s frustration melted.

“Just—” he knelt to gather Johann’s things, then held them out in a semi-soggy offering— “put some clothes on, for the love of God.”

Johann grabbed weakly for his clothes but made no move to don them. He looked exhausted. He was shivering.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Avi decided, helping Johann up again. Again, Johann broke feebly away, much to Avi’s dismay (he was just trying to help!) and shuffled toward a small door in the corner of the room. Beyond it Avi could see a cramped quarters furnished with a small cot and a large desk overflowing with sheet music.

“What is this?”

Johann turned to him with sullen eyes. “M’ bedroom.”

Avi gaped. “That’s supposed to be your office! I’m not going to let you sleep in there.”

Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, Johann burst into tears. Avi surged forward, stricken, and took Johann’s face in his hands. Johann avoided eye contact. Avi removed his hands.

“Hey,” he tried, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Johann shook his head a little, which Avi took to be a good sign. He continued, “Listen. You’re going to come back with me for tonight, okay? I’m captain of the cannon engineers; I don’t have any roommates. I’m going to get you clean and rested, and first I’m going to get dressed so we can walk across the quad and not get funny looks, okay?”

Johann nodded and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as Avi helped him into his clothes.

Avi shook his head. “Don’t.” Don’t ever apologize to me.

As the two made their way up the elevator and towards Avi’s room, Johann leaned close against Avi’s side. Avi was glad. The additional warmth penetrated the nighttime chill—Avi hadn’t even realized that carrying Johann down the ladder had left his shirt soaking wet—and being pressed this close to Johann was something to be treasured under any circumstance.

He only hoped—well. He hoped for a lot of things for the night, though some more than others escaped a foundation in reality. Mainly he hoped that he could help Johann get better from whatever it was he was going through right now. For the future, he hoped selfishly for better circumstances to walk like this, with Johann pulled tight against him under the starry one A.M. sky of the Bureau of Balance quad, just comfort and warmth.

But first, a shower and a long night’s rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading & commenting! I'm moon-jellie on tumblr if you want to say hi :)


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